One Family Owned: 1985 Toyota Supra P-Type

When a single family owns a car, I sometimes have a lingering doubt about the meaningfulness of that history. It can mean so many things, such as the heirs receiving a car and simply never registering it in their names – hence, one family ownership. But when a family continues enjoying a car through different phases of ownership across generations, that’s pretty special – and it ensures the next owner is buying an heirloom, not an unwanted inheritance. This 1985 Toyota Celica Supra P-Type has been with same family since new, and has resided in California and South Africa. Find it here on eBay with bids to $9,100 and the reserve unmet.

The Supra still wears original paint, and interestingly, it sports some very old rubber (the tires are totally period-correct, admittedly, but they are seriously ancient.) The P-Type is the one to own, as it added the gorgeous fender flares, front and rear spoilers, and supremely comfortable sport seats. The super cool factory decals are another highlight, and thankfully, they are still present and accounted for here. This generation of the Supra wasn’t the full-blown sports car it would become, but it was a “sporting” car that offered near-bulletproof reliability.

If you were accustomed to British or American sports or performance models, it was a revelation. This was a car you could drive in anger and it wouldn’t break. It just worked every time, and it still looked menacing while delivering unflappable reliability. The seller doesn’t tell us much about its history in Johannesburg, but I’m assuming it means the family relocated and they loved the Supra so much that it made the journey with them. That’s the kind of loyalty the Supra inspired, however, so it’s entirely surprising that it became a globetrotter. The interior remains in outstanding condition, just like the outside, with those wonderful sport seats still in incredible condition.

The 5M-GE 2.8-liter inline-six is a wonderful engine, albeit one that can occasionally suffer from head gasket issues. In 1985, horsepower jumped to 161 b.h.p. and 169 lb.-ft. of torque, and you got that regardless of the automatic or 5-speed manual. This car having the automatic may be a let-down to some of you, but given this was still a grand tourer versus a raw sports car, it suits the Supra’s personality just fine. The real point to this example has less to do with the transmission and more the high level of preservation it enjoys, thanks to its long-term single family ownership. A fair reserve is likely around $10,000, so hopefully, the next owner will keep its legacy of preservation and stock configuration alive.